The Story of Manhattan Beach. 
 
Copyright, 1879. 
 
THE STORY 
 MANHATTAN BHACH: 
 
 jl |lnirlioiil' mill ;j)li-tiii'csi|iir Si'l'iiicdlimi 
 
 Its History, Development and Attractions, 
 
 DESIGNED TO SHOW THE PLEASURE-SEEKER 
 
 HOW TO SPEND A DAY OR A LONGER PERIOD AT THE SEA-SIDE 
 
 WITH THE GREATEST ADVANTAGE, 
 
 CONEY ISLAND 
 
 FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES, WITH MANY INTERESTING FACTS CONCERNING 
 ITS TRANSFORMATION FROM A SAND-DESERT INTO A FASHION- 
 ABLE RESORT, AND A DESCRIPTION OF THE WAYS 
 
 NEW.yORK: 
 
 Francis Hart & Co., Printers and Stationers, 63 and 65 Murray St. 
 1879. 
 

INTRODUCTIOX. 
 
 TT is believed that of the thousands i^dio daily 
 seek reereation at Manhattan Beach very 
 fezv arc aware of the varied historical interest 
 ivliicli attaches to it, and the folhnving pages 
 have been ivrittcn to elucidate luU nicrclv the 
 evoits attending its dcvcloptncut, but also its 
 numerous charms and the tmsurpassed facili- 
 ties it affords for holidays on the ocean. As 
 compactly as possible, the icriter has endeavored 
 to present much material that will be neiu to 
 even the habitncs of the Beach, and his prin- 
 cipal design has been to inform the reader of 
 the matters 'which cannot fail to enhance the 
 pleasure of a visit to this no'w famous zvatcr- 
 iug-place. 
 
MANHATTAN BEACH. 
 
 WITHIN easy distance of the metropolis 
 and almost directly south of it, lies a 
 long low spit of silvery white sand which is 
 separated from Long Island by a narrow 
 creek; it is beyond the portals of the upper 
 bay, and the water that breaks in ermine 
 surf along its shore is the pungent and 
 undiluted brine of the Atlantic ; the ripples are 
 homogeneous with those that play in the fierce 
 heat of Africa, and the vast basin reaching out- 
 ward has no nearer boundary than the Eastern 
 hemisphere. 
 
 One morning last Autumn, some Americans 
 who had been absent from their country for 
 
12 The Story of 
 
 several years, stood on the deck of an inward 
 bound steamer, and gazed at this reach of 
 sand as their vessel veered into the great ship 
 channel ; the white surf made the sand seem 
 golden; the sunshine was all-pervading, and 
 a variety of buildings flying bunting and having 
 a holiday aspect, led toward the eastern end 
 to a cluster of palace-like structures which were 
 quite new to the Americans. "That," said one 
 of the oflScers, indicating the picturesque cluster 
 with a sweep of his hand, — "that is Manhattan 
 Beach," and it was a fact that, in the absence 
 of the tourists, this handsome watering-place 
 had sprung out of a region [jreviously unoccu- 
 pied and uninviting. 
 
 About two hundred and seventy years ago 
 (April, 1609), Hendrick Hudson, having sailed 
 from Amsterdam in search of a western path 
 to the East Indies, stood off the same shore. 
 His little vessel, the Halve Maetic, had for five 
 months buffeted the storms, and been driven 
 from Greenland to the Carolinas, when, upon 
 the 3d of September, he sighted " three great 
 rivers," one of which was probably the Hudson, 
 the other Raritan Bay, and the third Rockaway 
 Inlet. On the day following, according to his 
 journal, he sent a number of his men ashore in 
 a boat, " wlio caught ten great mullet and a 
 ray as great as four men could haul into the 
 
Manhattan Beach. 
 
 13 
 
 ship." Tliey found large numbers of plum-trees 
 loaded with fruit and surrounded by luxuriant 
 grape-vines. The natives who came to meet 
 them were amazed at the size of their ship, and 
 vastly interested in their dress, language and 
 color. They had no houses, but slept with 
 the sky for a counterpane, on mats made of 
 
14 The Story of 
 
 bushes and leaves. They were clothed in the 
 skins of elk, foxes and other wild animals, and 
 armed with bows and arrows. Now if it were 
 necessarj- to establish a precedent for visitors 
 to Manhattan Beach, we could find it in the 
 valorous old explorer who sought the Orient 
 through the Hudson River. 
 
 Hudson's intercourse with the Indians was 
 amicable in the beginning; they came on board 
 his ship and traded tobacco, maize and fruit for 
 knives and beads ; but on the third day, whilst 
 some of the sailors were ashore, the savages — 
 probably not without provocation — attacked 
 them. John Coleman was killed b}' an arrow 
 wound in the throat, and two others were 
 wounded. This disaster gave the name to a 
 neighboring point, which perpetuates Coleman's 
 memory ; and although the Indians were dis- 
 posed to resume their peaceful relations with 
 Hudson afterward, he distrusted them, and 
 moved to an anchorage in Gravesend Bay, 
 which is bounded on the south by the western 
 extremit)' of the sand-spit which lies so white 
 in the sunshine. 
 
 Manhattan Beach is the name of modern 
 times given to the eastern end, and the whole 
 reach is called Coney Island, the derivation of 
 which nomenclature is ascribed to various 
 sources: perhaps it came from an early Dutch 
 
Alaiihattaii Beach. 15 
 
 settler named Coneynen ; perhaps from the 
 ill-fated Coleman, or perhaps from the numbers 
 of rabbits or conies which populated the island ; 
 the latter origin seems most likely, and at all 
 events the name has attached to it since 1644. 
 
 The island extends some five miles from east 
 to west, with an average width of not more 
 than half a mile, and is about eleven miles 
 directly south of the city of New-York. The 
 western end, as we have said, forms Gravesend 
 Bay and projects toward the Narrows, and the 
 eastern end is Manhattan Beach, which has a 
 sea frontage of nearly two and a half miles, 
 facing the south. 
 
 When Hudson landed, the shore was hilly 
 and the water-line was probably two or three 
 miles further seaward than it now is. Almost 
 in the memory of living men grass was abun- 
 dant on a part of the beach now invisible 
 under the oscillations of the sea, and the growth 
 of cedars afforded the inhabitants of the main- 
 land a sufficiency of fuel for their winter fires. 
 The soil is alluvial, except a small tract of 
 tertiary, and the creek that separates it from 
 Long Island winds through a marsh of vivid 
 green, in which numerous wild birds are found. 
 
 In approaching the island the passenger 
 traverses a region of deep and varied historic 
 interest. Opposite and on the mainland is 
 
16 The Story of 
 
 the old town of Gravesend, which was settled 
 in 1635, by a few English colonists, including 
 a number of Quakers who had been expelled 
 from the neighborhood of Boston, and it is 
 probable that the name given to this settle- 
 ment was brought from the old town near the 
 mouth of the Thames, in England. Among 
 the Quakers was a woman of rank, education 
 and wealth, — the Lady Deborah Moody, — 
 whose influence on the settlement was both 
 powerful and beneficent. When the town 
 was laid off in squares and inclosed by a 
 stockade. Lady Moody and her companions 
 found that, although liberty of conscience had 
 been guaranteed them, a spirit of persecution 
 was rife among the surrounding settlers, and 
 she was arraigned by the authorities of New 
 Amsterdam for repudiating infant baptism as an 
 ordinance of God. Her defence was so elo- 
 quent, however, that she escaped conviction, and 
 she then applied herself to obtain the liberation 
 of her companions, who were cliarged with sim- 
 ilar "frightful heresies." Until her death in 
 1659, this gifted woman exercised not only 
 great influence in the affairs of the Colony, but 
 also exerted herself for the elevation and im- 
 provement of those who had persecuted her. 
 
 When the English settled Gravesend, they 
 were required to take an oath of allegiance to 
 
Manhattan Beach. 17 
 
 the Dutch authorities, but the)- were never 
 thoroughly loyal, and in the frequent contro- 
 versies between the Dutch and English as to 
 the sovereignty of Long Island, they espoused 
 the cause of their native country, suffering 
 much from the tyranny of the authorities in 
 consequence. In 1655, they openly disa- 
 vowed the Dutch, and announced themselves 
 as subjects of Great Britain. Five years 
 later, a force of eighty Englishmen rode into 
 the town, declared that it belonged to the 
 king, deposed the magistrates, and appointed 
 new ones. 
 
 The first town meeting was held in 1646, 
 when every inhabitant was ordered to help in 
 building a fence to inclose a common field of 
 corn, and a herdsman was appointed to look 
 after the cattle running at large. A court- 
 house was built in 1668, and the following was 
 one of the earliest judgments recorded : 
 
 " Whereas, during this Court of Sessions, 
 there hath been several misdemeanors com- 
 mitted in contempt of authority in this town 
 of Gravesend, by one pulling down the fences, 
 throwing down the stocks, and such crimes ; 
 the Court also finds there was no watch in the 
 town, which might have prevented it ; and 
 being the offenders cannot be discovered, it is 
 ordered that the town stand fine in five 
 2 
 
18 The Story of 
 
 pounds, till they have made a discovery of 
 the offenders." 
 
 In 1669, a ship was built, measuring about 
 seventy tons, and during the war of Independ- 
 ence, an English corvette of twenty guns was 
 captured off Coney Island. Gravesend Bay 
 was also the scene of General Howe's landing 
 as he removed his forces from Staten Island to 
 Long Island, previous to the battle on the 
 Heights. He compelled the inhabitants to 
 work on the fortifications, and to guide his 
 foraging parties ; he took possession of their 
 houses, and quartered his soldiers with them. 
 At the same time, he guaranteed their per- 
 sonal security, and ordered them to attend at 
 his head-quarters, where certificates were issued 
 to them, and each man was ordered to fasten a 
 piece of red flannel to his hat. The demand 
 for fabrics of this sanguinary color was so great 
 in consequence, that the women tore up their 
 flannel petticoats to meet it, and with this 
 badge of servitude over their brows, the citi- 
 zens of Gravesend whispered threats of ven- 
 geance among themselves. The disastrous 
 battle of Long Island, in wliich Howe was so 
 successful, deferred the realization of their 
 schemes, however, and those who were unwill- 
 ing or unable to effect an escape to the Amer- 
 ican lines had to bear much derision from the 
 
Manhattan Beach. 
 
 19 
 
 bluff, hard-drinking, and hard-swearing soldiers 
 of the King. 
 
 The capture of the corvette previously 
 referred to was accomplished in this wise : She 
 anchored late one night off Coney Island, 
 whence she was bound to Halifax, and a gal- 
 lant old whaler named Huyler, smarting per- 
 
 ning of Corvette off Coney Island. 
 
 haps under the wrongs suffered at the hands 
 of the red-coats, conceived the bold idea of 
 seizing and destroying her. A few trusty 
 friends co-operated with him in the exploit ; 
 they muffled their oars, and rowed under the 
 stern of the ship ; no watch was on deck, and 
 the officers could be seen through the cabin 
 
20 The Story of 
 
 windows playing a game of cards. A second 
 boat stood some distance behind the first, and, 
 at a signal, one crew boarded the corvette over 
 the port side and the other over the starboard. 
 Both the officers and men were completely 
 surprised. They were secured and lowered 
 into the boats, and the corvette was then set 
 on fire. The captors pulled over toward the 
 Jersey shore with their prisoners, and the 
 captain of the corvette is said to have wept 
 bitterly — whether from the mellowing effects 
 of wine or chagrin is not known. "To be sur- 
 prised and taken by two d d egg-shells is 
 
 too bad," he complained. He praised the gal- 
 lant enterprise of Huyler, and told him that 
 there were forty thousand dollars on board the 
 ship that was now illuminating the whole bay 
 with its flames ; but the treasure was not 
 secured. 
 
 Near Gravesend is the town of New Utrecht, 
 which is also of historic interest. It was settled 
 in 1654 by about twenty families from Holland, 
 who erected a block-house for their protection 
 from Indians, robbers and pirates, and it is 
 now the site of many pretty villas. It includes 
 Fort Hamilton, which commands the entrance 
 to New- York harbor. Near Fort Hamilton 
 stands insular Fort Lafayette, in which many 
 political prisoners were confined during the 
 
ManJiattait Beach. 21 
 
 civil war, and on the opposite shore of Staten 
 Island are f'ort Richmond and Fort Wads- 
 worth, which complete an almost impregnable 
 system of fortifications. The Indian name of 
 the neighborhood around Fort Hamilton was 
 Nyack, and it was here that Colonel Richard 
 Nichols, afterward Governor of New-York, 
 wrote to Governor Stuyvesant, demanding the 
 surrender of the New Netherlands. Here also, 
 off Fort Hamilton, the British anchored thirty- 
 seven men-of-war and four hundred transports, 
 carrying twenty-seven thousand soldiers, pre- 
 vious to the battle of Long Island. 
 
22 
 
 Tlie Story of 
 
 Chapter II. 
 
 HILE the new 
 republic was 
 grovMng into 
 one of the first powers 
 ,' in the world, and the 
 
 city on Manhattan Island was attaining pro- 
 portions that made it a compeer of Paris 
 and London, the beach on which Hudson 
 landed two hundred and seventy years ago 
 was utterly neglected ; the Indians disap- 
 peared, and the wind and sea leveled its high 
 conformation, and swept away the cedars and 
 grape-vines. Newport, Atlantic City, Long 
 Branch, Cape May, and a score of other water- 
 
Manhattan Beach. 23 
 
 ing-places, sprang into existence, and were 
 resorted to by the scented and furbelowed 
 crowds of the fashionable world. But except 
 the natural changes on its surface that we have 
 mentioned, Coney Island met with no other 
 mutations than the heat of summer and the 
 storms of winter. It presented the same 
 aspect to the mariner of a century ago that it 
 did to the commander of the ocean steamer 
 of modern times. It was low, white, and 
 desolate. Occasionally a vessel went ashore 
 on the beach, and the inhabitants of the main- 
 land flocked over with succor. A few "clam- 
 mers " and oystermen lived in huts along the 
 creek separating it from the mainland, and now 
 and then a sportsman came in winter after 
 game. These were the only visitors or resi- 
 dents the island had, and while it was within 
 eleven miles of the throbbing city, it was as 
 isolated as the Labrador. 
 
 So it remained until a comparatively recent 
 period, when its convenience and natural ex- 
 cellence as a sea-side resort began in a measure 
 to be recognized. A few scattered restaurants, 
 " pavilions " and bath-houses were erected 
 midway between the western end and the 
 present site of " Cable's " hotel. Communica- 
 tion with the city was established by a line 
 of horse-cars from Brooklyn, and a line of 
 
24 The Story of 
 
 steamers from East and North River landings. 
 A few years later saw the opening of a single- 
 track railway from Greenwood. As the horse- 
 cars took about three hours to make the 
 journey, and were started only at long inter- 
 vals, while the steamers were of inferior char- 
 acter, and the railway trains were dispatched 
 not oftener than once an hour, the influ.x of 
 visitors did not overtax the limited accom- 
 modations provided for them. Those whose 
 patience was sufficient to endure the tedium 
 of the journey, found a beach, which either 
 for bathing purposes or promenade could not 
 be surpassed. It was firm, clean, and so 
 inclined, that while the sea always formed a 
 surf, the waves were not too boisterous. 
 There were no quicksands, and no shells to 
 wound the feet, and the air was pure and 
 exhilarating. But though it was naturally 
 superior to Long Branch, an objectionable class 
 of visitors took possession of it, and their 
 presence gave it a reputation which excluded 
 the more desirable element. It is no exag- 
 geration to say that a man with respect for 
 himself, much less a woman or child, could not 
 travel by the steamers. Scenes of riot and 
 violence were of frequent occurrence on board. 
 The writer distinctly remembers a visit paid 
 by him to the island some seven years ago. 
 
Mnnhattan Bcacli. 25 
 
 The sail down the bay was made in an anti- 
 quated steamer. At the hmding there was a 
 barn-Hke dining-room, with a still more barn- 
 like bar-room attached ; chops, steaks, and 
 chowder, of a very inferior quality, were pur- 
 veyed at the prices of fashionable city restau- 
 rants, and, if in addition to refreshments the 
 visitor desired a bath, he was directed to a 
 dilapidated shanty, where twenty-five cents 
 were charged for a bathing-suit, and a similar 
 sum for the deposit of his purse or -Avatch. 
 " Three-card monte " swindlers had their tables 
 along the beach, and they plied their trade 
 with considerable success. At the end of a 
 vacuous day the visitor returned to the city, 
 lucky if he escaped robbery or insult, and he 
 did not usually repeat his visit. 
 
 Between 1874 and 1876, some improvements 
 were made, and a better class of people 
 appeared disposed to use their influence in 
 making one of the finest beaches in the world 
 available. New steamers were put on the 
 water route, and the hotel accommodations 
 were extended. But the island ranked far 
 below the neighboring Long Branch, or even 
 Rockaway, and what was actually the best part 
 of the beach was a terra incognita which the 
 most venturesome pedestrians seldom explored. 
 " How obvious it was that here could be 
 
26 The Story of 
 
 developed a sea-side resort absolutely un- 
 equaled in attractions and in the means of 
 access, — a sea-side resort that would become 
 more popular than Long Branch, Rockaway or 
 Newport ! " the visionary of to-day proclaims, 
 as he gazes upon what has been accomplished. 
 How obvious also was it that in the vapor 
 which James Watt sav/ issuing from his 
 mother's tea-kettle reposed the power which 
 propels " Great Easterns " and draws trains of 
 palace- cars across a continent; that a cord of 
 gutta percha, hemp and wire, could convey 
 messages around the world in twenty minutes, 
 as Puck prophetically hath it ; that Union 
 Square would one day be the center of New- 
 York, — how obvious in the retrospect, and 
 yet the theories of Watt were laughed at ; the 
 projectors of the Atlantic cable sought for sup- 
 porters to their enterprise in vain, and the most 
 sagacious Knickerbocker who sauntered after 
 dinner as far as the City Hall, and gazed on 
 the waste land beyond, probably thought it as 
 poor an investment as he could possibly make. 
 A Columbus or a Fulton crystallizes an idea 
 which has found lodgment in the brains of 
 thousands who could never formulate it, and 
 when it is expressed these thousands exclaim : 
 " How true — how often we have felt it !" But 
 it is the genius of prophetic intuition that 
 
Manhattan Beach. 27 
 
 makes the successful engineer, the successful 
 inventor, and the successful capitalist, — the 
 capacity to foresee that which everybody 
 lightly says, when the object has been attained, 
 might have been foreseen by an infant. 
 
 This digression leads to the second discovery 
 of Coney Island, which was still more eventful 
 than the first discovery by Hendrick Hudson. 
 
 A New- York banker had an invalid child for 
 whom sea-air was prescribed by the physicians 
 as a cure, and as his business compelled his 
 daily presence in the city, he decided to locate 
 his family on Coney Island, whither he went 
 with his horses and carriages, finding quarters 
 in the only family hotel available there pre- 
 vious to 1874. The child improved rapidly, and 
 the father perceived that in ignored, ill-reputed 
 Coney Island were all the requisites of a most 
 desirable sea-side resort. Mr. Austin Corbin 
 — such was the banker's name — did not make 
 any pretence to the possession of extraor- 
 dinary shrewdness in deciding that he had dis- 
 covered the site of a watering-place that would 
 reveal undreamed-of pleasures to the over- 
 worked New-Yorkers. He saw that with the 
 elimination of the old class of visitors and the 
 introduction of suitable accommodations for a 
 better class, the island might take the place 
 intended for it by nature. More than this, he 
 
28 The Story of 
 
 carefully explored the unfrequented eastern half 
 of the island, and found there advantages which 
 the other half did not possess, — a stretch of 
 beach as firm as asphalt, which was washed by 
 the sea on both sides ; which would afford still- 
 water as well as surf bathing, besides boating 
 and fishing ; and which, finally, was not merely 
 at the sea-side, but practically at sea. If the 
 reader will consult a map, he will find that for 
 nearly half its length the island is bounded on 
 the north by an ample bay, which separates it 
 from the mainland, and while the southern 
 shore is edged by unceasing surf, its northern 
 border is played upon by the gentle ripples of 
 this bay. Another point discovered was that 
 the undertow, which is the great drawback of 
 many Atlantic watering-places, was absent 
 here. The ocean currents setting from the 
 eastward, and those flowing through the Nar- 
 rows, meet opposite the eastern end of Coney 
 Island and create a sort of pool, which escapes 
 the suction common elsewhere on the coast. 
 What more could be desired ? Where, on the 
 shores of Great Britain, France, or the United 
 States, could the combined excellences lav- 
 ished by nature on this neglected spot be 
 found? A few friends — gentlemen of influ- 
 ence and of capital — were got together ; 
 the New- York and Manhattan Beach Railway 
 
Manhattan Beach. 29 
 
 Company was formed ; the titles and leases of 
 the ground were bought up, and the active 
 operations begun which have resulted in the 
 brilliant transformation that the eastern half of 
 Coney Island has undergone during the last 
 three years. It was the original design to 
 create a resort which should be eminently 
 select, and from which every objectionable 
 character should be excluded. This design has 
 been steadfastly adhered to, the sole proprie- 
 torship of the land which the company pos- 
 sesses enabling it to control the character of its 
 visitors; consequently, at no watering-place i.s 
 the representation of the best social classes 
 larger than at Manhattan Beach. 
 
 One of the earliest and most vital considera- 
 tions was the means of transportation from the 
 city. No matter how attractive a watering- 
 place might be, it was evident that few would 
 patronize it until it became more accessible 
 than the east half of Coney Island was in 
 1874. The journey by horse-car through 
 Brooklyn took too much time ; a resident of 
 New- York living above Twenty-third street 
 could not by this route, in connection with the 
 railway from Greenwood, reach the island in 
 less than two hours, and the same length of 
 time was consumed by the return trip. It was 
 seen that a convenient, quick and agreeable 
 
30 The Story of 
 
 transportation was as essential as a superb 
 cuisine or a luxurious hotel. A railway ex- 
 tended from Bay Ridge toward Jamaica, Long 
 Island, which was secured and diverted from a 
 point near Deerfoot Park to the beach. Con- 
 nections with the city were made at Bay Ridge 
 by a fine line of steamers, and by this route 
 passengers living above Twenty-third street 
 were landed at the island within an hour of 
 their departure from their homes, and those 
 living farther down town were landed in a still 
 shorter time. A second line was extended 
 through East New- York to Greenpoint, by 
 which the residents of the city could reach the 
 island in thirty-five minutes. The depot at 
 Greenpoint was on the East River, and con- 
 nected with Tenth and Twenty-third street 
 ferries. By the latter "all rail" route the island 
 is now brought within less than an hour's dis- 
 tance to the up-town residents of New-York, 
 and a gentleman leaving Madison Square at 
 five in the afternoon can be back by eleven 
 o'clock, after dining and spending four hours 
 by the sea-side. The whole line of double 
 track was laid with steel rails ; rolling stock of 
 the best description was purchased, and thirty 
 thousand passengers could be carried to and 
 fro daily, without inconvenience or danger. 
 The equipment included air-brakes, parlor cars, 
 
Manhattan Beach. 31 
 
 and every other feature which could possibly 
 increase the comfort of passengers. 
 
 The hotel was built, and in the summer of 
 
 1877 this new watering-place was opened to 
 the public, and at once became the fashion ; 
 neither Newport nor Long Branch attracted 
 more brilliant throngs. In the summer of 
 
 1878 the accommodations were extended, 
 and they are now increased again for the 
 summer of 1879. The place was considered 
 such a boon that many notable citizens, in 
 no way interested in it pecuniarily, publicly 
 commended it, among others the president of 
 the Board of Education of New-York City, 
 who, in an address to the pupils of the Normal 
 College, described Manhattan Beach as the 
 most attractive resort he had ever visited. The 
 newspapers devoted columns of description to 
 it, and the people recognized that for the first 
 time New- York had acquired a practicable sea- 
 side resort, — practicable in the sense of com- 
 bined accessibility, economy, comfort and 
 decorum. What a revelation and a blessing 
 the beach became to the thousands whose 
 business compelled them to reside in the city 
 during midsummer, we need not say. For- 
 merly, as we have seen, a trip to Coney Island 
 meant tedium and execrable fare, compensated 
 for in a measure by the sea-bathing and the 
 
32 
 
 The Story of 
 
 air. Now the 
 sea-bathing 
 and exhilarat- 
 ing air were 
 procurable 
 with every 
 imaginable 
 auxiliary for 
 the promotion of comfort. 
 
 Landing on the beach the visitor found a 
 splendid hotel, with spacious piazzas, magnifi- 
 cent halls, luxurious apartments, and a restau- 
 rant in which both the cuisine and the service 
 
Manhattan Beach. 33 
 
 were of the highest excellence. He found 
 unique bathing-houses and a superb beach, 
 uninvaded by troublesome side-shows and 
 hucksters' stands. After a bath and a dinner, 
 he resigned himself to a bliss as complete as 
 mortal may expect to attain. A wondrously 
 beautiful light fell on the ocean, and the distant 
 heights of the Neversink became a purple 
 tinged with gold. The ships seemed still and 
 spectral ; the night came up in a heavy blue, 
 and there was solace in the rhythmic beat of 
 the waves. In front of the balcony on which 
 he rested, a fine -band played, and the music 
 was indescribably softened by the contiguity 
 of the water. A crowd of promenaders surged 
 through the halls and piazzas. There were 
 animation, variety, brilliancy, and at the same 
 time the communicative repose and exhilara- 
 tion of the sea. We have only described the 
 mood of an hour. There were other times in 
 the day when the water twinkled with myriad 
 diamond-points of reflected sunshine, and the 
 East was belted with a delicate violet haze ; 
 when the lower bay was dotted with the white 
 sails of yachts, and the foliage of the Highlands 
 was visible in a dark blue-green, and when the 
 beach was crowded with ladies, children and 
 nurses. Again, there were the morning hours, 
 soft, hazy, cool, and the moonlight nights, 
 
34 The Story of 
 
 luminous, tranquil and silent. In every mood 
 and phase, Manhattan Beach was charming ; 
 the selectness designed for it by its projectors 
 was maintained, and no element of permanent 
 success was lacking. 
 
 Let us change the tense. Manhattan Beach 
 is an accomplished fact, a splendid achieve- 
 ment ; but it is progressive, and the attractions 
 that we have enumerated as being offered to 
 the visitor last summer are supplemented this 
 season by others. An extensive addition has 
 been made to the hotel ; the accommodations 
 for bathing have been increased, and more 
 space has been given to excursionists who 
 come provided with their own luncheons. It 
 is, perhaps, a criterion of the character and 
 resources of the hotel that two of the most 
 exclusive and prominent clubs in New- York, 
 the Union and the Union League, have 
 selected it for a sea-beach branch, and have 
 rented suites of the largest rooms permanently. 
 There are two large restaurants in the main 
 building, besides dining accommodations on 
 the piazzas. There are also many private 
 dining-rooms, and a visitor may see nearly 
 four hundred tables, with at least four seats to 
 each, occupied at the same time. The pavil- 
 ion for excursionists has seats for one thousand 
 five hundred people, and has a culinary capac- 
 
Alauliattau Beach. 35 
 
 ity for five thousand persons a day. The 
 kitchen in the main building has all the requi- 
 sites for providing for ten thousand a day, and in 
 several instances twenty thousand visitors have 
 been dined with complete satisfaction to them- 
 selves. One part of the pavilion is devoted to 
 fish dinners, which are prepared by a special 
 cook, and another part is reserved for the 
 gratuitous use of the excursionists. There are 
 several hundred bedrooms of ample size, and 
 the hotel is furnished in all departments after 
 the fashionable Eastlake stj'le. The floors are 
 of oiled woods, and there is no veneer or 
 meretricious decoration. The fresh water is 
 obtained from a well on the mainland, and is 
 almost chemically pure. The beach is pa- 
 trolled by detectives and special policemen, 
 whose vigilance leads to the prompt ejection 
 of any disorderly characters who have smug- 
 gled themselves on to the grounds. But above 
 all other arrangements are those for bathing, 
 which, we venture to affirm, are infinitely 
 superior to those at any other watering-place, 
 not excepting Brighton, Scarborough, Rams- 
 gate, or Margate, England ; Trouville, France ; 
 or Long Branch, Newport or Cape May 
 in the United States. The bathing-house 
 has a frontage of five hundred and twenty 
 feet, and comprises sixteen hundred and 
 
36 
 
 The Story of 
 
 fifty dressing-rooms for gentlemen, and six 
 hundred rooms for ladies. All these rooms are 
 constructed of the best hard wood, tastefully 
 painted inside and out, and all are supplied 
 w ith running water and gas. The gentlemen's 
 pavilion is a three-story structure, measuring 
 eighty-four by one hundred and thirty feet; 
 
 Bathing Pavilion. 
 
 the ladies' pavilion is of the same height, and 
 measures eighty-four by forty-five feet. Be- 
 tween the two is a spacious amphitheatre, ^\ith 
 seats for two thousand persons, who are thu •> 
 afforded a view of the bathers and the ocean. 
 Concerts are given in the amphitheatre daily, 
 
Manhattan Beach. 37 
 
 and the beach in fnmt is reserved exclusively 
 for bathers, who, in entering the water and 
 emerging, are thus protected from the intrusion 
 of spectators. The laundry is the most won- 
 derful laundry ever heard of. In the old times 
 at Coney Island, if a visitor wanted to bathe, 
 he was provided with a suit that was still wet 
 from previous use, with towels in a clammy 
 state of moisture, and witli a toilet-room of 
 unplaned boards. Ladies were compelled to 
 use rooms next to those of offensive men, 
 whose conversation could be distinctly over- 
 heard. At Manhattan Beach, the toilet accom- 
 modations for the sexes arc separated as we 
 have seen, and each bathing-suit is thoroughly 
 washed and dried before it is loaned to a 
 second person. There arc twenty thousand 
 towels and twel\"e thousand suits, and the 
 laundry has facilities for washing two thousand 
 suits an hour. Two endless belts convey wet 
 clothes from the bath-rooms to the laundry, 
 and pneumatic tubes are used to convey the 
 clothes, when they are washed and dried, from 
 the laundry to the distributing department. A 
 pump with an engine of sixty horse-power 
 supplies the bath-rooms with si.x hundred gal- 
 lons a minute ; two Marvin safes are provided 
 for the deposit of valuables during the bath ; 
 an electric light enables bathing to be contin- 
 
38 The Story of 
 
 ued after dark, and life-guardsmen in boats 
 patrol the water to prevent accidents. 
 
 " Anything more ? " 
 
 "Yes, my dear sir," we say to the reader; 
 "a great deal more : notably, the hot and cold 
 salt-water baths in the buildings." If perfect 
 privacy is desired, or if the sea-water at its 
 natural temperature is too severe, the person 
 so inclined may enjoy in-doors a bath 
 heated to any degree that suits him. " It 
 seems like a superfluity for a physician to 
 recommend sea-bathing," says Dr. Wm. A. 
 Hammond, the eminent neurologist, " but 
 if there are any who doubt its advan- 
 tages, to the overworked New-Yorker espe- 
 cially, I am perfectly willing to give whatever 
 weight my statement may have to the assur- 
 ance, that if there is any better hygienic power 
 than the air and sea of Manhattan Beach, I 
 do not know what it is." Dr. Hammond is 
 undoubtedly correct. Twenty minutes or half 
 an hour in the surf at Manhattan Beach is 
 better than a dozen doses of the most potent 
 elixir of life ever concocted. You land at the 
 beach, say at three in the afternoon, and when 
 you have cooled yourself under the piazzas 
 you enter one of the dressing-rooms and dis- 
 robe ; then you roll in the surf for a while, 
 and dress ; then saunter along the shore, with 
 
Manliattan Beach. 
 
 39 
 
 a breeze fanning you that is cool in the 
 extremest dog-days. Finally you dine and 
 light a cigar, and no Eastern potentate can 
 appreciate the meaning of superlative luxury 
 as well as you at this moment. 
 
 A narrow-gauge railway extends along the 
 margin of the beach for most of its length, and ' 
 by it steam transportation is afforded to the 
 
 
 
 eastern extremity of the island, where old- 
 fashioned clam-roasts are served, and where 
 sail and row boats may be hired for use on the 
 quiet waters of the bay or outside the bar. 
 Another attraction is the captive balloon, 
 similar to that of the recent Paris Exposition, 
 by which visitors can ascend in the care of an 
 experienced aeronaut to a height which gives 
 
40 The Story of 
 
 them an idea of life in the clouds, and at the 
 same time discloses a wide and beautiful reach 
 of sea and land. 
 
 Pyrotechnic displays of a novelty and 
 grandeur hitherto unknown in America will 
 be presented at intervals during the season by 
 the " Alexandra Exhibition Company " ; an 
 inclosure of several acres, convenient to the 
 hotel, has been secured for the purpose, and 
 the company propose to repeat their wonderful 
 exhibitions which have become so famous at 
 the Alexandra and Crystal Palace Company's 
 grounds in London. 
 
 A little to the east of the hotel is one of the 
 life-saving stations of the United States, which, 
 though it is unoccupied from May until 
 November, is w'ell worth inspection. During 
 the winter months the beach is patrolled by 
 the surf-men of the station every night. Each 
 patrolman carries a beach lantern and a red 
 Coston hand-light, and on the discover)' of a 
 vessel in distress he burns the latter, both to 
 alarm his companions at the station and to give 
 notice to those on the wreck that succo • \ ar. 
 
 Let us suppose that it is a wild 1^' :r 
 
 night, with a blustering, poignant North-easter 
 blowing. A big fire is blazing in the station- 
 house, and four of the men, with the keeper, 
 are taking their ease around it, or lying in their 
 
Maithattan Beach. 41 
 
 bunks, while the two others are putting on 
 their coats and mufflers, and looking longingly 
 toward the hearth. The latter are going out 
 on patrol, and as they are human they delay 
 as much as possible, re-adjusting their dress, 
 pressing their pilot-caps over their heads, 
 pulling their gloves farther on, and giving their 
 neck-cloths a final twist. The duty is inexo- 
 rable, and, with a last glance at the fire, they 
 plunge into the outer night. The wind is full 
 of needle-points and cuts them like a knife, 
 and the darkness blinds them for a moment, 
 and extends in every direction, except around 
 their feet, over which the lanterns cast a ring 
 of white light, and in the window of the station, 
 which glows with warmth. Above the moan- 
 ing of the air is the loud beat of the sea, as 
 the waves break on the shore and recede with 
 a sibilant sound, and the spray is lifted and 
 dri\'en in-shore by the wind in feathery streaks. 
 The big hotel of Manhattan Beach, which in 
 summer is illuminated from basement to roof, 
 the handsome pa\'ilions, the piazzas and prome- 
 nades, are utterly dark and deserted. Not a 
 sign of human life is visible. The two patrol- 
 men say " good-night " and separate ; one looks 
 back to see the lantern of the other swinging 
 to and fro on the sands, and decreasing in 
 brilliancy until it is altogether lost behind a 
 
42 The Story of 
 
 low ridge of sand, and he then feels absolutely 
 alone amid an unreal silence that would not be 
 as awful were the wind and sea completely 
 still. The walk would have many terrors for 
 a nervous or superstitious man, or for any one 
 of sensitive organization ; and the patrolman 
 is superstitious ; but he is so familiar with the 
 darkness, the loneliness and the roar that he 
 treads along the beach in a reverie — not a 
 reverie on the deep secrets over which Nature 
 is brooding, but on so prosaic a matter as the 
 care of a small family who are now fast asleep 
 on the mainland — until he fancies he discovers 
 a light fastened to the black wall that seems 
 to be built up from the sea. He stands still, 
 and looks for it again ; it has disappeared. In 
 a minute it re-appears ; and now the first light, 
 that has stood at the mast-head of a vessel in 
 distress, is augmented by the flare of a rocket 
 and the blue fire of a signal, which reveal a 
 schooner close in-shore and in extreme peril. 
 
 According to his instructions, the patrolman 
 instantly ignites his red light, which is done 
 by striking the holder against his knee, which 
 action explodes a percussion cap, and he is 
 surrounded for several seconds by a flood of 
 crimson so vivid and so vigorous that no wind 
 or rain is strong enough to extinguish it. 
 When the light expires he hastens back to the 
 
]\[anliatta7i BcacJi. 
 
 43 
 
 station with the news, and that quiet outpost 
 is suddenly put into as tumultuous a state as 
 the storm outside. The life-boat is placed on 
 a carriage, the carriage having very broad tires 
 to its wheels, so 
 that they can- 
 not sink in the 
 loose sand, and 
 the life-car, with 
 other apparatus, 
 is placed in an- 
 other vehicle, 
 both b e i n I 
 drawn to the 
 
 point neaiLst 
 the w r e c 
 where efforts 
 are made to ob- 
 tain communi- 
 cation with it. There are three possible means 
 of communication — the life-boat, the life-car 
 and the life- raft. The first two are in use at 
 all stations, and the last has been adopted at a 
 
44 The Story of 
 
 few, but it is only under very favorable cir- 
 cumstances, or in extremities, that the boat is 
 used. A line is thrown over the wreck either 
 by a rocket or a mortar and shell, several 
 efforts being made before success is attained, 
 and the first line is attached to a stronger one 
 that is secured to the mast of the vessel and to 
 the shore. The life-car is suspended from the 
 line and hauled on board the distressed ship; 
 three or four persons are put inside it, and it 
 is hauled back again, repeating the journey 
 until all are safely landed. But the work, as 
 is the case with most things, is easier to describe 
 than to perform. If the wind is blowing on 
 shore, rocket after rocket flies on its meteor-like 
 course through the tempest, falling short, or 
 being carried too far ahead or astern by the 
 wind ; sometimes the rocket fails altogether, 
 and the boat or life-raft is the only resource 
 left. 
 
 The life-raft resembles a covered boat with a 
 few air-holes in the top, the perforations having 
 raised edges to prevent the water from enter- 
 ing, and it has a ring at each end, with a 
 hawser attached, that enables it to be drawn 
 through the surf The " boatswain's chair " 
 and the " breeches buoy " are similar, though 
 older and less efficacious devices. 
 
 Having seen the patrolman's red light burn- 
 
Manhattan Beach. 45 
 
 ing, the crew of the wrecked ship utter a 
 glad cry of dcHverance and wait for the brilliant 
 spurt of the rocket bearing the line to them. 
 ;- .;: - I to the end of the line is a board with 
 i ::..j.i3 ill several languages, and if they are 
 wed, communication is soon established 
 w ith the shore. 
 
 The \isitor to Manhattan Beach — in the 
 winter season — may sometimes see the coast- 
 wreckers at work on some vessel which has 
 stranded or sunk, and may witness the exceed- 
 ingly interesting operation of raising a large 
 ship. The mode of operation, in- brief, is as 
 follows : three or more heavy cables are 
 lowered to the bottom of the sea and dragged 
 under the hull, by divers ; when these are 
 properly adjusted, huge wooden pontoons are 
 towed over the wreck, and the cables are 
 passed up through water-tight well- holes and 
 then drawn upward by hydraulic power. This 
 part of the work costs severe effort and much 
 time, but when it is done, the injured vessel, as 
 a doctor would say, is in a fair way to recovery. 
 The cables are drawn up through the wells, 
 link by link, and are gradually tightened, until 
 the wreck lifts. It rises slowly, and the pon- 
 toons groan from the weight bearing upon 
 them. For some time yet the wreck is out of 
 sight, but at last the deck is seen dimly 
 
46 
 
 The Story of 
 
 through the waves, and soon afterward it is 
 above water. Then the cargo has to be 
 removed in whole or in part ; the divers are 
 sent down to discover the leaks, and, when 
 discovered, to patch them with canvas and 
 thin planking. Then steam pumps, of enor- 
 
 mous capacity, quickly clear the vessel of 
 water, and she is towed to a dry dock for 
 repairs. 
 
 The mackerel and blue-fishing off Manhattan 
 Beach is exceedingly good, and this suggests 
 another means of recreation within reach of the 
 visitor. Let him form a party of good fellows, 
 who are " never, never, or hardly ever, sick at 
 sea," and bring them down to the beach in the 
 evening. After dinner, let him saunter in the 
 lovely evening light, when the shore is looking 
 
Ilaiihattaii Beach. 47 
 
 its prettiest, as far as the eastern end of the 
 island, and engage a man and a boat for the 
 morning; let liim retire early, and when the 
 sun is mounting the eastern sk}-, suffusing 
 the little world in view with rose-color and 
 gold, making a ruby wine of the dark waters, 
 — let him embark and cross the bar. The 
 waves are crisp, glassy and fringed with foam ; 
 as they leap into peaks the light flashes 
 through them and shows how green they are ; 
 but a surface-glow lies upon them, and shifts 
 about, appearing and disappearing, and losing 
 intensity of color as the sun rises higher. The 
 wake of the little boat, as she dances over the 
 undulations, sparkles and bubbles as with mill- 
 ions of diamonds, and the sea exhales a com- 
 municative vitality which soon puts the party 
 in the highest possible condition of exuberance. 
 With the lines trolling astern, it is not long 
 before you have some fish shining and pris- 
 matic in the bottom of the boat, and when you 
 have exhausted the sport you recross the bar, 
 and land. The probabilities are that your 
 appetite will not allow you to bathe before 
 breakfast, and, seated under the piazza of the 
 hotel, with the sea-breeze playing around you, 
 you consult the vicim. The table is spread 
 with snowy linen and sparkles with crystal 
 ware ; the gaijon is ci\ il and intelligent. What 
 
48 The Story of 
 
 shall we order ? Some grapes or peaches to 
 begin with, certainly ; then some half-shell 
 clams with a bottle of Chablis ; then 2. filet oi 
 sole, sauce tartare ; or, do you not like smelts, 
 breaded, with dry toast and a cup of fragrant 
 Mocha ? The fish-cook of the Manhattan 
 Beach hotel develops unsuspected delicacy of 
 flavor in his dishes ; and while you are discuss- 
 ing the filet of sole w^ith sauce tartare, or the 
 breaded smelts, an ever-changing animated 
 throng of promenaders enlivens the beach, and 
 hundreds of bathers in the water divert you 
 and seem to become rhythmic in their motions 
 responsively to the strains of the band. Look- 
 ing beyond the surf, an unbroken fleet of ves- 
 sels are coming and going by the great ship 
 channel, — perhaps two or three of the le\ia- 
 thans of modern ocean steamship lines, — and 
 }'ou become emulous of the power of the 
 marine painter to transfer some of this beauty 
 to canvas. 
 
 We have scarcely left ourselves sufficient 
 space to describe the various routes to Man- 
 hattan Beach, each of which has some interest- 
 ing features. The pleasantest, no doubt, for 
 the stranger, is by steamer to Bay Ridge, and 
 thence by rail. The boats are of the finest 
 class, — large, swift, and handsomely fitted up. 
 The North River landings are at West Twenty- 
 
Manhattan Beach. 49 
 
 second street, Le Roy street, Pier Eight 
 (foot of Rector street), and the Battery. 
 The Twenty-second street landing is easily 
 reached by cars which traverse Twenty- 
 third street and connect with all other lines 
 in the city; it is about se\'en minutes dis- 
 tant from Madison square. The Le Roy 
 street landing is passed by the Belt line cars, 
 and is within two or three blocks of the 
 Houston street cars. It is also the terminus 
 of the Hoboken ferry, the Blue line of cars 
 running through P'ourteenth street. Union 
 square and Seventeenth street to East Twenty- 
 third street, the White cars running through 
 Eighth street across to\\'n, and the Cream- 
 colored cars running through Fourteenth street 
 to Union square. Passengers living as far up- 
 town as Central Park may, by taking the 
 Metropolitan Elevated Road to Eighth street, 
 and the street cars thence to Christopher street, 
 reach the landing within twenty minutes, and 
 the beach within seventy minutes, while pre- 
 vious to the opening of the Bay Ridge route, 
 the same trip would have occupied two hours 
 and a half The Rector street landing is within 
 a few minutes' walk of Wall street and of all 
 that portion of the city below City Hall Park. 
 The landing at the Battery — foot of Whitehall 
 street — is made by a special boat, connecting 
 
MANHATTAN BEACH R.R.& 
 NEWYORK CQJsINECTIONS 
 
3Iaiihaitan Bcacli. 51 
 
 witli both elevated roads, and is the shortest 
 water route to the beach. 
 
 The varied traffic of the river, the activities 
 of the \vhar\'es and the beauties of the upper 
 bay combine to make the sail to Bay Ridge 
 one of the most attractive in the world. The 
 Hudson washes thirteen miles of the city's shore 
 line, every foot of \\'hich is available for vessels 
 of the largest tonnage, and the upper bay has 
 fourteen square miles of anchorage. Over 
 two-thirds of all the duties collected on imports 
 in the United States are paid through New- 
 York, and while the total value of all exports 
 from this country is about $682,000,000 an- 
 nually, the total value of those from New-York 
 alone is nearly $345,000,000 of this amount. 
 Nearly 6,000 vessels, measuring 5,000,000 
 tons, come into the harbor every year from 
 foreign ports, besides about 2,500 vessels 
 engaged in the coastwise trade. The water is 
 plowed in every direction by all kinds of 
 vessels, and the air is resonant with tlie vehe- 
 ment whistling of the steamers. Squat, tur- 
 tle-like ferry-boats, black with passengers ; 
 palatial river-steamers with tier above tier 
 of state-rooms ; capacious barges ; cockle-shell 
 row-boats ; solid-looking dredging machines ; 
 coasting steamers and full-rigged ships — not 
 
52 The Story of 
 
 only those which are common to all harbors, 
 but many varieties of less familiar appearance, 
 churn the water into foam and dodge each 
 other so dexterously that the collision Avhich 
 seems inevitable is constantly averted. The 
 stranger strains his eyes and his understanding 
 in a vain endeavor to discover the nature of 
 two heavy barges, which are fitted with rail- 
 way tracks, and from which the cars are trans- 
 ferred to another track in the city. A further 
 illustration of this characteristically American 
 expedient may be seen in the " Maryland," a 
 leviathan railway ferry-boat, that forges her 
 way daily from the Harlem River- to Jersey 
 City, bearing a whole train of passenger cars 
 a distance of over eight miles, and forming an 
 all-rail route from Boston and the East to 
 Philadelphia and the South. 
 
 Another strange-looking craft is the floating 
 derrick of the Dock Department ; and stranger 
 still are the grain elevators, which look like 
 houses afloat. The roofs and the straggling 
 water-front, with its embattlements of sail-lofts 
 and stores ; the long fringe of shipping, with 
 its forests of masts and black net- work of 
 cordage, are all that we can see of the city 
 from the river, but the reverberations of its 
 noisy heart-beatings come to the ear in low 
 
Maiiliattan Bcaclt. 53 
 
 surges, and mingle with the lapping and splash 
 of the water. The ceiulean overhead is not 
 perceptibly dimmed by the filmy smoke of the 
 anthracite coal, which is the common fuel, and 
 the water, though it is not the deep blue and 
 green of the sea, is still green compared with 
 the water of Liverpool, London, Philadelphia 
 and Baltimore. The picturesqueness of the 
 harbor is attested by the frequency with which 
 it is selected for illustration by the best Amer- 
 ican painters. 
 
 The stranger is impressed with the apparent 
 inconsistency in the names of the North and 
 East rivers. The North, which is the Hudson, 
 appears to be so named after the point of the 
 compass from which it flows, while the direc- 
 tion of the East River, which borders the city 
 on the eastern side, seems never to have been 
 taken into consideration in its nomenclature. 
 The fact is, however, that the North Ri\-er was 
 so named by the early Dutch, to distinguish it 
 from the Delaware, which was called the South 
 River. 
 
 Near the Twenty-second street landing of 
 the Manhattan Heach steamers, on the North 
 River, we see the immense grain warehouses, 
 built for the use of the New- York Central 
 Railwa\', where the grain is transferred -in 
 
54 The Story of 
 
 bulk from the cars which have brought it 
 from the West to large ocean steamers for 
 conveyance to Europe ; and in the same 
 vicinity is the handsome building known 
 as Manhattan Market, which is now used 
 for other purposes than those for which it was 
 i.itended. Between the Le Roy street landing 
 and Canal street are clustered the wharves of 
 the principal transatlantic lines, — the Cunard, 
 White Star, Inman, Guion, National, Anchor, 
 State and French lines, and a representa- 
 tive steamer of each is usually in dock. 
 Probably no other port in the world harbors 
 in the same concentrated space as many 
 superb vessels. It is not unusual to see eight 
 steamers here at one time measuring nearly 
 forty thousand tons, and aggregating about 
 four million dollars in value. The view is 
 imposing in the extreme. 
 
 Below Canal street, the various Southern 
 steamers are seen at their piers, — steamers for 
 Richmond, Charleston, Savannah, New Orleans, 
 Galveston, Bermuda and Mexico, besides the 
 sumptuous vessels used in navigating the 
 Sound and the Hudson. Now and then a 
 glimpse is caught of the Brooklyn Bridge 
 towers, and the many commercial palaces on 
 Broadway loom up magnificently. The circu- 
 
Manliattan Beach. 5-5 
 
 lar structure in the Battery Park is Castle Gar- 
 den, where tlie newly arrived immigrant is 
 landed and cared for. He is taken from the 
 sliip by tenders into the vast rotunda, where 
 all his reasonable wants are supplied. His 
 biography is tabulated in a voluminous regis- 
 ter ; should he become sick within a certain 
 time after his arrival, the Commissioners of 
 Emigration are bound to admit him to their 
 hospital ; should his ultimate destination be 
 beyond the city, responsible agents of railway 
 companies are on hand to supply him with 
 tickets at the lowest rate ; his thalers, sover- 
 eigns or napoleons are exchanged for United 
 States currency ; means of communication with 
 absent friends are opened to him, and, in brief, 
 everything possible is done to protect him from 
 swindlers and help him on his way. 
 
 As we leave the South Ferry landing, the 
 vista of the East River is opened to us with 
 hundreds of magnificent barques, schooners, 
 brigs and sloops at the wharves. A little to 
 the east are the docks which receive the im- 
 mense freight of the Erie Canal. The princi- 
 pal lines of transportation from the West to the 
 East include about ten thousand miles of rail- 
 way, seven thousand miles of river, sixteen 
 hundred miles of lake, and sixteen hundred 
 
-56 The Story of 
 
 miles of canal. The total freight carried over 
 them in a year is about ten million tons, one- 
 fourth of which comes through the Erie Canal 
 and down the Hudson River, whence it is 
 delivered near the Battery landing of the Man- 
 hattan Beach boats. Four ferries and two 
 elevated roads converge in the same locality — 
 two of the ferries from Staten Island, and two 
 from Brooklyn. 
 
 Our steamer now heads down the bay, with 
 Governor's Island on one side and Bedloe's 
 Island on the other. The low green line of 
 the Long Island shore toward Bay Ridge and 
 the heights of Staten Island are seen in the 
 distance. Governor's Island was the site of 
 the first settlement in New- York, and has had 
 a varied and eventful history ; it was a per- 
 quisite of the British governors " in the good 
 old colony times when we lived under a king," 
 and hence its present name ; but it was pre- 
 viously known as Nutten Island, from the 
 number and excellence of the nuts which grew 
 upon it. It was also the first place of quaran- 
 tine in New-York, and was captured by 
 Admiral Howe as he moved his fleet up the 
 bay after the battle of Long Island. Two 
 batteries of artillery now occupy it, and it is 
 the head-quarters of the general commanding 
 
Manliattau Beach. 57 
 
 the Department of the Atlantic. The smaller 
 island to the westward is Bedloe's, which is 
 also fortified, and this is the proposed site of 
 the colossal statue of Liberty. A strong, 
 exhilarating breeze blows in upon us from the 
 sea, and the water falls in crisp spray over the 
 bow. In a few minutes we are landed at Bay 
 Ridge, where the Manhattan Beach Railway 
 Company has erected a splendid pier, depot 
 and waiting-rooms, and where the passengers 
 are quickly transferred to the trains in waiting 
 for them. The view from the pier is very 
 beautiful. The bay reaches out toward the 
 Jersey coast and the Kill Von Kull, and the 
 Long Island shore is a vivid green to the 
 water's edge. We have already spoken of 
 the equipment of the railway, and we may 
 reiterate that it includes every invention that 
 can increase the comfort and safety of those 
 traveling by it. It extends at first in a south- 
 easterly direction, between high embankments 
 and underneath the various avenues, until it 
 emerges into a fertile and picturesque country ; 
 then it follows an easterly course, and near 
 Deerfoot Park passes under the fine Ocean 
 Parkway, connects with the Greenpoint branch, 
 and thejice extends in a direct southerly line 
 to the rear of the hotel on the beach. 
 
58 The Story of 
 
 The Greenpoint route is not only a fast and 
 commodious way to the beach in summer, but 
 it also affords one-fourth of Brooklyn rapid 
 transit to business in New- York ; it is building 
 up and populating large portions of the eight- 
 eenth, twenty-first and twenty-fifth wards in 
 the former city, and it is a convenient means 
 of freight transportation from the East River 
 to the suburbs. The passenger trains in 
 Greenpoint are connected with the city by 
 steamers running from Twenty-third street 
 and Tenth street, where street-cars establish 
 communications with every part of the city. 
 The Twenty-third street (buff line) cars 
 intersect all the avenues and Broadway ; the 
 Houston street (yellow line) pass through 
 Lexington avenue to Forty-second street ; the 
 Seventeenth street (blue line) reach Union 
 square, and thence go down West Fourteenth 
 street; the Dry Dock line (green) and the Belt 
 line (red) touch nearly all the arterial thorough- 
 fares of the eastern district, and the White line 
 from Tenth street runs directly across the city. 
 The East River, at Tenth and Twenty-third 
 streets is not as variedly picturesque as the 
 North River, but it has many features of 
 interest. The great iron-works are in the 
 neighborhood of the former ; and steamers that 
 
Manltattaii Beach. 59 
 
 are being dismantled lie at the adjacent piers, 
 which are covered with a miscellaneous heap 
 of fragments — the separated sections of marine 
 engines, rusty boiler-plates, battered smoke- 
 stacks, and green copper-sheathings. Not 
 long ago the ruined hulk of the " Ocean 
 Queen" was lying here, — a famous vessel; 
 in the palmy days of the Panama route 
 to California she had been true to her name, 
 but now her broken rigging draggled from 
 the masts and spars ; the seams between her 
 timbers gaped, and the paint was peeling 
 off The two funnels were battered and red 
 with rust. The once cozy little state-rooms 
 on the upper deck, in which the warm tropi- 
 cal winds had fanned the grateful passengers, 
 were dismal, chilly, and destitute of furni- 
 ture ; every bit of gilt and upholstery had been 
 stripped off her once gorgeous saloon ; and the 
 engine-room, in which her large heart of fire 
 had burned, was a shadowy, echoing void. 
 Close to her lay the iron-clad " Montauk " in a 
 still more woeful condition of wreck, her thick 
 plates dimpled with the hemispheres of hun- 
 dreds of cannon-balls which had struck them 
 in the civil war without penetrating them ; her 
 decks torn up by shells, and her smoke-stack 
 bent and indented. Side by side with these 
 
60 The Story of 
 
 shattered veterans were new wliite river 
 steamers and larger sea-going steamers, into 
 which engines and boilers were being placed 
 by demon-like mechanics, — mechanics dressed 
 in .black and greasy overalls, whose fierce- 
 looking eyes were set in ebon faces, and 
 whose hammers were rained upon the bolts 
 and plates with vindictive energy. Most of 
 the ship-building of the port is done at Green- 
 point, and in the yards near the ferry may be 
 seen the skeleton-like frames of future ships 
 and steamers. At the foot of Twenty-sixth 
 street, Bellevue Hospital is conspicuous, and an 
 interesting object at the foot of Twenty-third 
 street is the " St. Mary's," an old war-ship 
 devoted to the education of boys for the 
 American mercantile marine. 
 
 In closing this sketch, we recapitulate briefly 
 the various routes to the beach. 
 
 The North River route by steamer to Bay 
 Ridge, and thence by rail ; the East River 
 route via Greenpoint ; and the South Ferry 
 route, also by water to Bay Ridge. The North 
 River boats receive passengers at Twenty- 
 second street, Leroy street, and Rector street. 
 All stations of the elevated roads sell tickets for 
 the beach via the South Ferry boats. On 
 the East River, ferries at Twenty-third and 
 
Manhattan Beach. 
 
 61 
 
 Tenth streets connect half-hourly with trains 
 at Greenpoint. It will thus be seen that no 
 watering-place is so accessible to the crowded 
 population of New-York and vicinity as the 
 delightful resort which has been built up at 
 the eastern end of Coney Island. 
 
 No more remains for us, kind reader, than to 
 in\ite you to test the truth of the story we 
 have here given of Manhattan Beach. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 ^**3D5S»fi 
 
 014 109 360 5 * 
 
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